Role in IT decision-making process:Align Business & IT GoalsCreate IT StrategyDetermine IT NeedsManage Vendor RelationshipsEvaluate/Specify Brands or VendorsOther RoleAuthorize PurchasesNot Involved

Work Phone:

Company:

Company Size:

Industry:

Street Address

City:

Zip/postal code

State/Province:

Country:

Occasionally, we send subscribers special offers from select partners. Would you like to receive these special partner offers via e-mail?YesNo

Your registration with Eweek will include the following free email newsletter(s):News & Views

By submitting your wireless number, you agree that eWEEK, its related properties, and vendor partners providing content you view may contact you using contact center technology. Your consent is not required to view content or use site features.

By clicking on the "Register" button below, I agree that I have carefully read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy and I agree to be legally bound by all such terms.

Microsoft Ships Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 Release Candidates

Microsoft had made available release candidate editions of Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5.

In addition to delivering the Release Preview of Windows 8, Microsoft also released an update to its tool suitVisual Studio 2012 Release Candidate and .NET 4.5 RC.

The newly named Visual Studio 2012formerly known as Visual Studio 11includes several tweaks and improvements over the Developer Preview and Beta releases of the technology. This release ships with a Go Live license, so developers can use the technology to build and deploy production applications. Developers can download the Windows 8 Release Preview bits here and the Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 Release Candidates here.

Weve added features, improved performance, revamped the UI, streamlined setup, made it easy for you to move from Beta to RC, and more, said Soma Somasegar, corporate vice president of Microsofts Developer Division, in a May 31 blog post.

Somasegar also noted that Microsoft also revised the Visual Studio logo to embody the same Metro design principles of simplicity and streamlining that we've applied to Visual Studio itself.

Further reading

In a separate post, Jason Zander, corporate vice president for Visual Studio, said from beta to RC, Microsoft reduced the installation time of Visual Studio 2012 by an additional 20 percent. Moreover, The performance work done between beta and RC was extensive and covers just about every aspect of the product. There were improvements in XAML (compiler, loading documents, and the design surface), debugging, editing large C++ files, Test Lab Management and the list goes on, he said.

Microsoft also tweaked the Visual Studio user interface based on feedback from the beta. And the company enhanced the capabilities for developers to build Metro-style apps in both XAML and JavaScript.

First off, there are some new Metro-style app templates, including a new Windows Runtime Component template for C# and VB developers, and a new DLL project template for C++ developers, Zander said.

In addition, ASP.NET Web Forms has been updated, and both Microsofts Web Tools and LightSwitch have been updated.

Microsoft also updated Team Foundation Server (TFS), its application lifecycle management (ALM) solution. There were a few updates to TFS since the beta, Zander said. The first is the ability to use SQL backups of existing Team Foundation Server instances to create (upgrade) a new Team Foundation instance during the initial setup. The second is the ability to automatically add new features to existing projects using older Team Project Templates when upgradingthis has been one of the most requested upgrade features for Team Foundation Server.

The Team Foundation Server team also improved the user interfaces with updates such as the ability to collapse/expand iterations in Team Web access and the addition of personal and favorite queries in pending changeswhich makes it simple to drag and drop related work items to a pending check-in, Zander said.

Of the TFS version available in the release candidate, Brian Harry, product unit manager for TFS, said, Weve done a ton of testing and fixed a lot of bugs. So it should be even more stable than the beta.